Is a friend in deed
by Levana Fay
Summary: Sequel to 'A friend in need…' La Grenouille is back on the radar and ready to fight dirty, and Tony may be in the firing line, putting pressure on Jenny and Jethro's relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Rating: T

Summary: Sequel to 'A friend in need…' The hunt for La Grenouille had gone cold after the failed Ares mission, and the mockery he had made of Jenny during the Troy Webster case had been salt in the wound, but Jenny, Jethro, and of course Tony, have persisted. Now, like any cornered animal; The Frog will stop running and attack.

A.N.: Thank you towritingfreak145, MatteaAM, Twilight Trekky, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, MissJayne, jstapny, babyred1995, black widow mistress, xxhiphuggersxx and HesMines for reviewing the final chapter of 'A friend in need.'

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

The sunlight filtered through the curtains, highlighting the two bodies that lay asleep on the bed, their bodies entwined, both for warmth, because the sheet had long since fallen to the floor, and for the comfort of the familiar embrace. Their breathing which was loud in the quiet room had synchronised during the night, making a simple duet like they had been made to breathe together.

Jethro shifted when the sunlight reached his face, reluctantly awakening to shuffle backwards, gently pulling Jenny with him. She slept on, which was hardly surprising. They had both gotten in late last night, after celebrating Jenny's return from Paris. Celebrating and questioning. She had gone missing for 21 hours in Paris, and her innocent act in the airport had been so thin he had seen straight through it. He knew it was about La Grenouille, she had let him in on the investigation two months ago, he knew everything about her operations, but now it seemed she wanted to keep this one to herself. Why?

As soon as she had gotten back he had been waiting for her, and he had taken her out to her favourite restaurant. They had shared a bottle of wine, talked of work until she had relaxed and then he had asked her about her time in Paris. That one bottle would have nearly taken up this week's allowance; Cold turkey was not apparently the way to wean her off of alcohol, particularly when she had such a high profile job. Ducky had given him instructions on how to limit her intake without seeming like he was managing her life. He had been prepared to count how many glasses she would have and mentally cross them off of her alcohol allowance list in his head, but she had coyly told him that she wouldn't drink anymore than one glass, and she hadn't even finished that one by the end of the night.

She had told him where she had gone anyway. She had gone to see a friend of her father's who is dying, and he had told her some disturbing things, the most alarming being that he had seen and spoken to her father just two weeks ago. 'A dying man does not lie', he had apparently said to her, but Jethro reminded her that that particular dying man did have something to protect, a daughter, and keeping her safe would be his first priority if she was threatened. Besides, his daughter had said that sometimes the morphine affected his memory, so he could have just been imagining it.

Jenny had agreed with him, she had seen her father's dead body, she had buried him, she knew he was dead. She hadn't wanted to tell Jethro at first because it had really reflected directly on her mental state. What if she had believed him? It wouldn't have been a difficult thing to do if she hadn't been the one who had found her father's dead body. She had resolved to put it out of her mind when the desserts had finally arrived.

Jethro stroked his hand lazily up and down her back, enjoying the simple contact and the freedom to touch her. He was aware that not many people got second chances like this, so he was unwilling to waste a moment. Jenny stirred under his fingers and snuggled closer to him, sighing happily and then playfully nipping his arm with her teeth to still its movements. He obliged, but only after tickling her side in retaliation.

They dozed peacefully until their alarm went off, and then they dragged themselves out of bed and into the bathroom for their morning rituals, and then a water saving, communal shower. Half an hour later they emerged fully dressed from the bedroom with large smiles on stress free faces. They went straight to the kitchen, where Jenny switched on the coffee maker and Jethro put some bread in the toaster. This had been their typical morning since Jethro had begun staying the night, though he did sometimes sleep at his own house too, but what had once been a haven where he could go to unwind, now felt empty and isolated.

Jenny needed him with her more than he needed the time alone, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't really need that. Working through the day and not seeing her was distance enough, and though he knew eventually he would need some space, he knew they could talk about that when he moved in completely. He was going to move in, he knew it. Jenny had almost asked him twice already but thought better of it at the last moment, but the time would come soon when she would pluck up the courage.

Jenny served the coffee and Jethro put the toast on plates, swapping one with each other and then sitting down at the table to eat and drink. They didn't have any cases to rush off to work for, but Jenny did have an op in MTAC and Gibbs wanted to finish the paperwork he had neglected in order to pick Jenny up from the airport last night. The conversation flowed easily between them, and then Jethro watched as Jenny got up to get some more toast. She usually only had two slices, but if she was feeling more peckish today, he wasn't going to stop her. She didn't usually eat enough anyway.

Jenny smiled at him when she finished her last mouthful of toast and he put both of their plates in the sink and then poured himself another coffee. He offered one to Jenny, but she didn't want one. She stood up and wandered over to him, pressing a kiss onto his cheek and then wandered away, out of the kitchen, presumably to her study to get her briefcase ready for the day.

* * *

Jenny wandered happily through her house, her thoughts turned inwards. She had some very happy news which she wanted to share with Jethro, but she wanted the moment to be perfect. After all, this was a hard subject for both of them; synonymous with pain and loss, and the last thing she wanted was for her news to hurt him. She had initially felt bad when she had found out, and scared, scared that he would leave her, but all of that negativity had disappeared when it had really sunk in. Now she couldn't be happier, everything around her had a silver lining and every problem had a solution, despite her quite heartily believing the opposite just moments before that little life changing stick had changed to positive.

She smiled to herself and gently rubbed her stomach. She would have something else to tell Rosie now. She had first taken Jethro to Rosie's grave the day after Emily had left. Jethro had thought it would be a bad idea, that losing Emily and then going to her dead child's grave would only make her worse, but he hadn't understood how calming talking to Rosie was for her. It had been a while since she had been before that day and so she and Jethro had done a little weeding and cleaned up the grave, placing fresh flowers in the holder. It had been painful of course, it always was, but she liked to believe that her little girl really could hear her.

She had taken her picture albums and shown them to Jethro while they sat on the grass. She had reminisced while Jethro had absorbed every scrap of information he could. He would never meet Rosie, but Jenny knew that she spoke so energetically of her at the graveside that he had made it a weekly thing. Every week they would have a picnic by Rosie's grave and she would tell him about every second of her young life, right up until the end. She usually cried so hard he had to take her home after only a short time, but she was getting better at talking about her, and his patience was gratifying.

She was thinking about asking him to move in with her, but now she was unsure about how to do it. If she told him she was pregnant first, would he say yes only because she was pregnant? What if she told him after and he said no? What would they do then? She wanted him with her always, and though they would have time alone whether they were living together or not, she just wanted the feeling of being properly together, without getting married. She cringed as she thought about becoming Mrs Gibbs number 5, perhaps they could get married and she could keep her last name?

Jenny strolled through the doors to her study, lost in thought, and walked over to her desk. She reached down for her briefcase and then straightened up, about to put it on the desk, when she spotted something already on it, something that shouldn't be there. she froze, staring wide eyed at the half empty bottle of Scotch and the glass next to it, not daring to believe what she was seeing.

"Jethro?" she called, hoping that she wasn't going mad. She dropped her briefcase and slowly began to circle her desk, not taking her eyes off of the bottle for a second in case it disappeared. She heard Jethro enter the room and come towards her, so she raised her hand and pointed at the desk. "Did you do that?" she asked, hoping that he had simply developed a taste for Scotch and forgot to put the bottle away in case she was tempted to drink it.

"Do what? Leave the bottle there?" he asked, following her finger to the bottle that seemed to have her bewitched. She nodded and he shrugged, shaking his head. "No, and as far as I know Noemi doesn't drink." he said, in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't seem to work though, so he abandoned the attempt. "Maybe Ducky left it here, he drinks Scotch." he said reasonably, but Jenny shook her head.

"Jethro… that's my father's favourite brand, the arrangement is exactly how he would leave it on a night… it's like he's just left the room…" she trailed off, shivering slightly. She looked around the desk but nothing else had been touched.

"Jenny, it's not possible that it was your father. He's dead, you know he is." Jethro said soothingly, coming up behind her slowly and putting his hands on her shoulders. "This is also not the first attempt that has been made to try and convince you otherwise." he reminded her. Someone was striking while the doubt that her fathers friend had created in her mind was still fresh, and there was only one person who would have the drive to do something like that; La Grenouille.

"I know, but…" she gestured helplessly at the bottle and Jethro's heart ached for her. She straightened up and dropped her hand, searching through one of the drawers for some clear plastic bags. "I want Abby to check it for prints, maybe we can find out who is doing this to me." she said, her voice full of steel. She pulled out two bags and ties and carefully wrapped them inside without touching them.

"Whoever did it, one thing is for sure, La Froggy is getting desperate." he said thoughtfully, thinking back to everything he had read on her operations to catch him. Something hit him then, a stray thought that he had pushed to the back of his mind when he had spoken to Tobias about Emily's fortnightly 'psyche talk' with Ducky. He had told him they were going to have a polygraph test, all of NCIS, but Jenny was the target. "We are being polygraphed on Monday, all of NCIS including you. It's a strange coincidence that someone is playing mind games with you just days beforehand." he said out loud, watching Jenny mull over his words.

"You're right, he is getting desperate. He has never done anything like this before, he must feel under threat more than ever, but why?" she moved around her desk slowly while she voiced her thoughts out loud. "Making me believe my father is alive when he is definitely not would discredit me completely. My boss would believe I was unfit to remain NCIS director and as a result of that, _all of my_ _undercover operations would be terminated!_" she declared triumphantly. "That's it; Tony is too close, La Grenouille is afraid." she broke out in an ecstatic predatory grin, but Jethro was suddenly very worried.

"So he must know who Tony really is, and the only reason he hasn't done anything more drastic about him already is that Jeanne could be hurt. So what happens when what he wants doesn't happen? What happens to Tony when you pass your polygraph?"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: thank you to xxhiphuggersxx, black widow mistress, babyred1995, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, alix33, MissJayne, jstapny, HesMines and Twilight Trekky for reviewing!

* * *

Jenny looked at Jethro sharply, the thought he had just voiced having never entered her head. It should have though, she should have thought about what would happen if Tony's cover came under intense scrutiny, but he hadn't said anything. As far as she knew he had only just been introduced to Jeanne's mother, and there was no love lost between her and Jeanne's father. Was it possible that the mother had called La Grenouille and asked him to find out more about Tony DiNardo? Were Jeanne's parents this suspicious of all of her boyfriends?

Jenny sighed; it no longer mattered how he had found out, just that he had. What would happen to Tony? If La Grenouille knew who he really was then just taking him off the case wouldn't be enough to protect him from his reach. He had many people in his service with the skills to take him out quickly and quietly, but she suspected that he wouldn't want that. He would want to make a show of it, so that she knew that it was him that had disposed of Tony, despite the lack of evidence to tie him to it.

"We were so close this time…" Jenny murmured unhappily. She was going to have to do it again; she was going to have to let him get away. _It is worth it_, she told herself sternly, _Tony is in danger_. The last thing she wanted was for someone else to get hurt over this monster. She shook her head, ridding it of the images of Tony stepping through the door of his apartment, unaware that someone was already there, with a gun trained on his head…

Just then a shiver ran down her spine and she glared at the bottle and the glass, wrapped in the plastic bags, her mind racing. How had they gotten there? Someone must have put them there obviously, but had they done it while she had been in Paris? Had they done it while she and Jethro had been upstairs asleep? She vividly remembered Jethro unlocking the door when they had gotten in last night but she couldn't recall if he had locked it again behind them. That must mean that this person had slipped in while they had been in bed, right?

Jenny ran past Jethro and out of the study, dread mounting in her chest until she felt like her breathing was being restricted. She stopped in front of the door and reached out her hand to the handle, turning it and yanking before she could change her mind. It didn't budge. The door was locked. Jenny started to hyperventilate as dread turned to horror. They had just walked into her house, locking and unlocking it when they felt like it… she was not safe… her arms wound around her middle and she backed up until she was forced to sit on the stairs or fall backwards.

She was not safe in her own home, which meant that Jethro wasn't safe here with her either, and neither was their baby. Jenny pulled her legs up protectively and stared at the door, willing it to keep intruders out like it should, but she knew it was no use. Lots of people could pick locks; it stood to reason that her enemy could too. She didn't like that though; she didn't like it at all. She had lost one baby to this man, she would not lose another! She had to kill him soon, while her baby was still relatively safe inside her.

Taking Tony off the case was detrimental to this goal though, at least in the sense that she wouldn't be able to get any closer to La Grenouille, but it would keep Tony safe and give them time to regroup. Maybe they would get lucky and La Grenouille would leave behind some sort of clue about his whereabouts or his latest scheme… _yeah, keep dreaming Jenny_, she thought angrily, _this is your chance and it's slipping away. Are you really going to put your baby in danger by letting him walk away __**again**__?_

Jenny put her head in her hands and willed herself to calm down. She was panicking, which was hardly surprising considering her condition and the circumstances surrounding her last stint at motherhood, but the last thing her baby needed was to become distressed. She briefly wondered if it was possible for the foetus to become distressed since it didn't have a brain yet, or at least she didn't think it did. The stages of foetus growth weren't something she had memorised, and the last time she had been in this position she had been scared and alone.

Ziva had been there for her in the end of course, but they hadn't known each other very well at the beginning, so she had tried to keep her pregnancy a secret. Ziva had eventually taken her aside during a dangerous sting operation and told her that she should be on maternity leave. Jenny smiled; she hadn't been able to get anything past Ziva. She hadn't gone on leave either; they had been seriously undermanned so she had carried on working.

She could still remember the terror on Ziva's face when they had been pinned down by gunfire and her water broke. What a bonding session. The only good thing that had come from it besides a closer friendship with Ziva had been that her screams of agony had made the enemy come out of hiding to finish her off, believing they had injured her. Ziva had picked them off with chilling detachment and then tried not to panic while helping her to give birth. Ziva had told her later that she had thought she was going to die, which hadn't been surprising, Jenny had too.

Her smile faded and the sense of loss that had been haunting her came back full force. She couldn't lose this baby, and that meant not letting La Grenouille find out she had it. She would not make an appointment to see her ob/gyn, it would be too easy for him to find out. She quickly thought about the pregnancy test in the bin upstairs and resolved to dispose of it personally. She couldn't take the chance that someone might find it in her trash. Just then Jethro's arm wrapped around her shoulders, freezing her paranoid thoughts in their tracks, his heat promising the safety and security she so desperately needed. She burrowed in to his warmth and let him surround her. She had Jethro to help her, to make her feel safe. Who did Tony have?

"Call Tony. Tell him to abandon the op." she said firmly, her decision made. Hopefully Tony wasn't already in too deep to back away safely, but if La Grenouille saw him retreating he wouldn't pursue him. At least he wouldn't normally, but this was all so unlike him in the first place. Part of her wanted to take the words back right away, but she bit her tongue until the urge passed. Jethro would help her track down La Grenouille, she knew he would and then justice would be hers. She smiled and closed her eyes, listening to Jethro rummage in his pocket for his phone.

* * *

Tony tapped his thumbs against his steering wheel in a familiar rhythm as his car radio played a song that he knew. It was a good one too. _Ah they don't make them like this anymore_, he thought, and then abruptly stopped thinking it. What was that supposed to mean? He was only in his thirties, he sounded like he was sixty, or whatever age Gibbs was. Not that the guy seemed to age, he was simply 'that old' seemingly forever. Tony had to admit to a tiny bit of jealousy, if he could keep the ravages of time from him like Gibbs could he would be set for a great future. Even Ducky had aged well, if those pictures his mother had shown him, that time he had been providing protection for her, were any indication.

The song ended and another started, a nice jazz number that threatened to erase all thoughts of getting older from his mind, but didn't quite manage it. Jeanne would be moving in soon, his impulsive offer for her to leave her condemned apartment and move into his was now coming to a head. He was shocked and not a little disturbed to find that he was looking forward to it. He shared a closeness with Jeanne that he had never shared with anyone else before, how ironic that most of it should be lies.

His heart wasn't lying though, and now he knew without a shadow of doubt that he was in love with Jeanne. Her smile had the power to make his knees weak and it had become his mission in life to make her do so. It felt right to wake up with her in the morning and to go to sleep with her in his arms at night. He knew he should have told Jenny, hell he could have told Gibbs, he would understand he was sure of it, but he couldn't say anything. What if they took him off of the case? What if they forced him to leave Jeanne? He couldn't do it.

He had to tell her who he really was and he had resolved to do so, but how would he start off that conversation? _Well, actually Jeanne my name isn't DiNardo, its DiNozzo, I'm not a university professor of film; I'm a federal Agent and we didn't exactly meet by accident either… but I still love you._ He scowled and gripped his steering wheel angrily. What was he going to do? He couldn't keep lying to her, but telling her the truth would definitely hurt her.

He was saved from further internal torment by his cell phone ringing. He pulled over and parked his car before looking at it, not surprised that it was his work phone that was ringing. A swift glance at the screen said that it was Gibbs, so he quickly answered the call.

"Yes boss?" he said by way of greeting and enquiry. He rarely got calls from Gibbs, unless they had a case outside of normal work hours, so this was a surprise. It was also a surprise to actually get a word in before Gibbs could end the call.

"DiNozzo, we have a problem. La Frog has changed his tactics, so you may be in danger." Tony smirked at Gibbs' constant refusal to call the arms dealer by his proper code name, but the mention of a problem had him instantly alert. The only reason he would be told over the phone rather than in Jenny's office was if it involved him or Jeanne. "As of now you are off the case. Meet me and Jenny at NCIS, we'll go over what we know and try and sort out a good story for your removal from his daughter's life." Gibbs said, and every word stung Tony like a dagger to the heart. It was happening; it was really happening, he was being taken away from Jeanne.

Somehow he managed to squeeze a response through his tightly clenched throat and then he tossed his phone on to the passenger seat dejectedly, where it bounced off and onto the floor. It wasn't supposed to end between them, and especially not like this. He could make it work with her, he could, despite the huge blow to her trust finding out would deal. They were stronger than that, they wouldn't fall apart. Tony blinked back the tears of anger and frustration at his situation and resolved to calm himself down before going to NCIS. Then he remembered he was supposed to be picking Jeanne up for lunch.

* * *

Jethro sat on the step beside Jenny and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him. He had seen her intent and checked all of the windows and the back door already, only to find them all locked and secure. It was disturbing to know that even the Director of NCIS's house could be broken into that easily, and he resolved to have a word with Abby and Ziva about setting up something much more difficult to bypass. Jenny's arms were wrapped tightly around her middle and she had curled up so far she looked like a child herself. She snuggled into his embrace and he smiled.

Jenny was pregnant; it was glaringly obvious if you knew what to look for. He wasn't blind; he could see what was right in front of him. He made a living as an investigator and he had been around during his first wife's pregnancy. He'd also had lots of experience with pregnant women in general, both as an interrogator and an Agent with the unhappy duty of reporting a death. She was worried, very worried and he had to admit to being so as well. This would be his third child, and with two dead he felt very on edge over the safety of this one.

What could he do though? The child was safely inside Jenny's body at the moment, so it was as safe as anyone could make it. He would give his life to keep Jenny from harm anyway, so there was nothing more he could do. If he tried to bundle her off to somewhere the Frog couldn't find her she would protest, in the strongest possible terms. There was only the one thing to do, make her house more secure and sweep the neighbourhood daily just in case La Froggy employed any hit men. He could also increase her security detail and make her cancel her dinner parties with the ass kissers on The Hill. She wouldn't like giving up that much freedom, but she would do it for their baby.

"Come on, let's get to NCIS." he said, pulling her to stand with him. She did so reluctantly, looking a little embarrassed over her near breakdown, but she quickly pulled herself together. He waited while she wandered back into the study and gathered her work things, as well as the bottle and glass, and then he drove them both to work.

It was a quiet day today, being a Saturday. Not many people were in, but a few were using the day to catch up on paperwork, as Jethro had intended this morning. He escorted Jenny down to Abby's lab, where the young Goth was waiting for them to bring her something to process. A slow day meant Abby would be terribly bored, and she was really only in because he had called her in for a favour. Abby was a little concerned when he mentioned that the bottle had appeared on Jenny's desk through a locked door, and when Ziva arrived shortly afterwards he sent her down to brainstorm with Abby on making Jenny's house impenetrable.

He and Jenny were waiting in her office for Tony to arrive, and the wait was turning into a long one. Jenny finally became annoyed and called him after a twenty minute wait, turning to gaze at Jethro a few seconds later, her expression troubled.

"He isn't answering either of his cell phones. What if we're too late?" she asked, apprehension written all over her face.

"Maybe he just wants to be alone, he is in deep with the frog's daughter after all." he suggested half-heartedly, but he wasn't really feeling it. Tony wasn't the kind of guy to get emotional over a woman, but what if this woman was different? What if they had totally misjudged how much Tony could take? "Alright, I'll get McGee to track him in MTAC; hopefully we can get a visual and go from there." he said, leaving her office with Jenny following closely behind.

"McGee! You're needed in MTAC!" he shouted down to the young man who had only just arrived and had been headed towards Abby's lab. To his credit McGee merely changed direction and quickly ascended the stairs, not even offering an eye roll at being pressed into service the second he entered the building. The three of them quickly took up their positions in front of the large MTAC screen, and Jethro told Tim to locate Tony. McGee agreed without asking any questions and typed away on his keyboard.

"Got him. He's in his car. He's not alone." McGee said squinting at the screen to try and make out who the other person was, but he couldn't tell. It looked like a woman though. Jenny tried his phone again, but it went to his answer phone. Well if he wasn't alone he wouldn't answer, and since he was driving he should really let the other person answer; if it was Jeanne that was obviously not a good idea. They would have to wait it out.

"He doesn't look like he's in danger at least." Jenny said hopefully, and he nodded. They watched as the little car pulled over next to a burger stand and two people exited. It was Tony and Jeanne. The young couple linked hands and then set off towards the stand at a sedate pace, only managing to go a handful of steps before being knocked off of their feet.

Tony's car suddenly exploded in a large fireball, pieces of the vehicle being torn apart and flung around it at the innocent pedestrians, other vehicles swerving from the shock of the sudden conflagration as much as to avoid the burning wreckage and shrapnel.

"Oh my god!" Jethro heard Jenny exclaim, but he couldn't muster a response. His eyes were glued to the two figures lying on the sidewalk. The two unmoving figures.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Did you see the little tip of the hat to NCIS' two sex symbols of their generation last chapter? Lol, I forgot to mention it last week. Thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, HesMines, black widow mistress, MissJayne, babyred1995, alix33 and Twilight Trekky for reviewing!

* * *

Jethro stared at the MTAC screen for a total of five more seconds before wrenching his eyes away and tapping McGee on the shoulder. Now was not the time to let his emotions take over, he had to get to the scene before any of the public contaminated the evidence. Tim looked up at him, his face clearly showing his own shock and horror over what he had witnessed. With an obvious effort the young Agent swallowed and stood up, pushing his negative thoughts to the back of his mind. Jethro nodded slightly, satisfied that the young man could do his job, and then he looked over at Jen.

She was standing still, facing the screen with one of her hands pressed against her mouth, obviously fighting an internal battle. She didn't need to come with him, though he knew she would want to. Guilt wouldn't help Tony now, and it wouldn't help Jenny or the baby, so he simply gestured for McGee to precede him out of MTAC, without uttering a word. The last thing he needed was to bring Jenny with him to a crime scene that may have been orchestrated for her benefit, as a warning or even punishment for the undercover operation she had put Tony on.

Well he wasn't going to give The Frog the pleasure of seeing her reaction to his handiwork, nor was he going to allow her to put herself and their baby in danger by going to a crime scene that may very well have been set up to draw her out into the open. She would be a sitting duck in the street where the explosion had happened; the fact her hair and clothing were distinctive and that the scene would be clear of everyone but his team made it the perfect spot for a sniper or hit man to lay in wait for her.

Once they were safely and silently out of MTAC, Gibbs punched Ziva's phone number into his cell and quickly told her to meet him and McGee out front, unwilling to tell her over the phone that her partner may be bleeding to death on the sidewalk with his undercover persona's girlfriend. He may be a bastard but he wasn't cruel, he would do it in person. He quickly spared a glance to the doors of MTAC, hoping that Jenny would be alright and then started towards the elevator.

The ride downtown was a long and tense one, with Ziva and McGee both staring out of the windows dejectedly, undoubtedly thinking the worst. By the time they arrived at the scene the paramedics were there and both of the victims were being loaded into the back of the ambulance. Gibbs parked up and then all three Agents bolted over to the ambulance as quickly as they could, just catching the crew before they closed the back doors and set off. _Their condition isn't good_, was all they could say.

The three of them watched the ambulance drive away with mounting anxiety, but they knew their jobs. Jethro pulled himself together first and strode over to the wreckage of the car that DiNozzo prized. NCIS wasn't rich so they hadn't been able to provide him with a car for his undercover work, necessitating the need for Tony to use his own personal car. He would be very upset when he woke up. Jethro kept an eye out for anyone acting suspicious, calling Ducky quickly to tell him about Tony, while Ziva and McGee bagged and tagged everything they could.

They were done in less than fifteen minutes; mostly because a lot of the evidence had been incinerated, but also because they wanted to get to the hospital to see if Tony was alright. Gibbs sighed, there was probably not enough evidence to tie anyone to the bomb, but if there was something; Abby would find it. He stalked over to the car that Ziva and McGee had filled with evidence bags and got in, watching as Ziva did the same. McGee waved to them slightly, needing to wait for the truck to get to the scene so he could transport the wreck to NCIS and deliver it to Abby. He made a call sign to Ziva, who nodded determinedly. Once they knew something, they would tell him. Gibbs drove straight to the hospital, barely staying within the legal speed limits, unaware of the sleek black limo that tailed them.

* * *

Jenny stared wide eyed at the MTAC screen, watching helplessly as pedestrians and shocked drivers began to flee the scene, while others began to crowd around it. The man from the burger stand left his post and rushed over to the unmoving figures of Tony and Jeanne, gesturing frantically to the people crowding around to call for an ambulance. Several people did so immediately; while others stared at the destruction around them, glancing at the other people as if the culprit was among them.

Jenny felt sick to her stomach as she watched a red patch steadily expanding beneath Tony and Jeanne, though due to the blurry image she couldn't tell if it was from one or both of them. She pressed a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes, trying to block out the images and settle her stomach, which turned out to be much more difficult than she originally thought. She had been prepared for the morning sickness, her past experience letting her know how awful she would be feeling again. She had decided to use the memory of holding Rosie for the first time to help her through it. When she thought about that magical moment, all of the unpleasantness felt like it would be worth it.

The morning before last had been particularly nasty, she had no idea how Jethro had slept through the noise, or how she had managed to drag herself back into bed without waking him up, but she had managed it. She actually felt absurdly proud that she had, but this time was different. She was at work, in the middle of MTAC. Directors don't just spontaneously throw up, not even after watching a bomb go off in the car of one of her Agents. Jenny counted to one hundred and then opened her eyes, turning to Gibbs to ask him to bring a car around so they could all go to the scene, but he wasn't there. She was the only person still in MTAC.

Anger gripped her before she could stop it and she glared furiously at the spot where her lover had been standing mere moments ago. How could he do this to her? Shut her out of the case, which was in fact _her_ case, like he was in charge? She had _let_ him in on this one, _she_ called the shots. Her stomach rebelled again and her hand shot back up to her mouth. This time she knew it wasn't just threatening to come up, so she power walked out of MTAC and into her office, speeding up to a run once she was safely past Cynthia. She barely made it to her personal bathroom in time.

After several minutes she slumped back against the wall gasping for breath. She had emptied her stomach violently and completely, her legs felt numb and she doubted she could make it back to her desk. She was actually glad Jethro hadn't waited for her now that she thought about it. What would her Agents think if they had had to pull over for her to throw up while Tony bled out on the sidewalk somewhere? What if one of La Grenouille's henchmen had seen her retching and put two and two together? What if Jethro had realised what was wrong with her? She wasn't prepared to tell him yet, not until the danger passed and she knew they would be safe.

Jenny tried to slow her breathing, to let the light-headedness pass, but another wave of sickness passed over her and she ended up retching once more. Yes, that cemented it; she would have been useless at the scene anyway. She would have been more of a liability than anything, and it wouldn't have helped that Ziva and McGee would both have realised by now that Tony had been working for her undercover, and that was why his life was now in danger. Jenny suddenly stopped to think; would Jethro have gone to fetch Ziva? Or would she still be with Abby in her lab? Should she go down and tell them that Tony was injured or wait until Jethro called her with an update?

"Jennifer? Are you in here?" Ducky's voice echoed into the bathroom through the open door which she hadn't had the time or inclination to close and she barely had time to wipe her mouth before he appeared in the doorway. He took one look at her and then nodded, as if something had been confirmed to him. "Stay there, I'll be back with something to help you very soon." he promised gently and then breezed back out of the room.

"Uh huh…" Jenny muttered to herself sarcastically, wondering where exactly he thought she would go whilst in this state, but unable to voice the words for fear of bringing on another round of sickness. Why was he looking for her anyway? Had Jethro called him? Oh god… what if Tony was dead? She sat back in silence as the cold dread wove itself into her chest, gripping her heart. She had just agreed to take him off the case; in fact he was supposed to have come to meet her and Jethro in her office. Instead it seemed he had gone to meet Jeanne instead.

Why was Tony being targeted so soon? The polygraph test that La Grenouille had orchestrated to catch her out wasn't scheduled until Monday, and it was only Saturday today. It was too soon for him to act. Had he panicked? Had one of his henchmen acted early? What if the bottle and the glass had just been to distract her? What if the real target had been Tony all along? Why risk Jeanne as well? Surely he knew her work timetable? He would have known that she would be out with Tony, wouldn't he? Was she just another necessary casualty? It wouldn't surprise Jenny to find that that was the case; La Grenouille took his 'business' all too seriously.

Just then another thought popped into her head, this one a lot harder to shake than the last. She had known he would make any attempt on Tony as spectacular as possible, but what if this was just to get all of the people she cared about in one place? What if he had planted the bomb in Tony's car just to draw all of the people she thought of as her family into his net?

Ducky returned at that moment and popped a few pills into a hand. He put them into her mouth and made her swallow them, which was difficult, handing her a bottle of water to wash them down. He kneeled on the floor next to her and pressed a hand to her forehead. She waved him off, her mind's eye showing her all of the horrible ways La Grenouille could be planning to kill the team. Ducky took out his phone and checked it, letting out a breath at what he read.

"It would seem that Tony and his lady friend were hit by shrapnel from his car, they are in the hospital now being taken care of. Jethro, Timothy and Ziva are going over the scene." he told her softly, watching Jenny's brow crease in confusion.

"They're at the scene already? But it's only been a few minutes-" she started to say, but Ducky put a gentle hand on her shoulder and she stopped talking.

"It's been nearly half an hour, Jennifer." he said, aware that her time spent battling morning sickness would have seemed far shorter than it had actually been. Jenny's eyes widened in shock, and she mentally cursed herself. How long had she been standing around uselessly in MTAC? Had Jethro tried to get her attention and failed? What if they had waited for her? They would still be here, half an hour on, and Tony might have died in the street…

She shook her head at herself, wondering for a moment where all of this self pity had come from. The pedestrians had called for an ambulance; she had watched them do it. Tony would not have died any faster or slower just because she was throwing up. She sighed and leaned her head back. _The mood swings must have started already_, she mused. _One moment I'm angry enough to rip Jethro a new one, the next I'm a simpering wreck_.

Ducky held out a hand and she gratefully took it, allowing her old friend to pull her up in to a standing position and support some of her weight while her legs regained their equilibrium. The two of them hobbled over to Jenny's sofa and sat down heavily, Jenny sinking gratefully into the cushions. Jenny's back and legs heaved a sigh of relief at the comfort change, the cold hard floor in her bathroom not being the nicest place to sit for any extended period of time.

"Thank you Ducky." she said softly, exhaustion catching up with her unawares. She felt physically drained, and the sleepiness that was blanketing her senses didn't help. She glared suddenly as the concerned look on Ducky's face registered in her foggy mind. "You drugged me!" she accused angrily, feeling her body give up the fight to hold off unconsciousness, recalling that one of those pills he had given her had been bigger than the others. Ducky simply nodded his head and helped her to recline.

"Get some rest, you'll need it." he uttered softly, waiting until her eyes closed to pull out his phone and call Gibbs.

* * *

A.N.2: One word: stress. Ducky will hopefully help Jenny to get through some of it next chapter, it's not good for the baby. Add to that withdrawl from alcohol and caffeine, sleep deprevation and morning sickness and i hope it becomes clear why he sedated her. He didn't do it maliciously.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, xxhiphuggersxx, alix33, Twilight Trekky, HesMines, MissJayne, jstapny and black widow mistress for reviewing!

* * *

Two excerpts from season 4's final episode: "Angel of death". Trent Kort and Rene Benoit, La Grenouille, talk on Benoit's plane about Tony and Jeanne while looking at surveillance pictures of them together.

_Benoit- "Then how did you intend to gain leverage? Oh, you intend to harm her?"_

_Kort- "Only threaten."_

_Kort- "DiNozzo's a white hat. He won't want to see her harmed."_

_Benoit- "Have you not noticed, Kort? I like white hats."_

* * *

Ziva David watched the road ahead, fidgeting slightly in the passenger seat of Gibbs' car. What was going on? She only knew that Tony and some woman, whom she assumed was Tony's mysterious girlfriend, had been taken to hospital because someone had planted a bomb in his car. Why Tony? Who, besides the army of women he had spurned, would want to kill him? She glanced at Gibbs, wondering what it was that he knew that she did not. There was something, something big, that much was obvious.

It more than likely had something to do with Tony's familiarity with Jenny too, since they had been spending quite a bit of time alone in her office. Ziva knew that Jenny was not the type of woman to sleep around, especially not with someone like Tony, so it must be purely work related which meant that he was doing some work on the side for her. Work that Gibbs knew about, he must do, otherwise he would be fuming just as much as she and McGee had been. Add to that the fact that they had apparently watched the explosion in MTAC, meaning that they had been concerned for him enough to find his location on a Saturday, and you get a very big secret.

_Undercover work_, Ziva decided, _but what for?_ What was going on? Why had she been left out of the loop? Did this not concern the whole team? She huffed angrily and turned to stare back out the window, watching the other cars pass by. How could he not tell her? She was supposed to be his partner, were they not supposed to share potentially life threatening information? Ziva had to admit to feeling a little anger towards Jenny too.

They had been good friends once, practically family after Rosie had been born, but now she treated her like any other member of NCIS. Why had she pulled away from her? What was she afraid of? Ziva wanted her friend back, she wanted to be able to go over to Jenny's and reminisce about their time together, but that didn't seem possible anymore. She was more than aware of the building resentment towards Jenny that grew every time she ignored her, every time she brushed off her concerns for her, every time she secluded herself on the anniversary of Rosie's death or birth.

She had lost Rosie too, and her death had hit her hard. She had tried to be strong for Jenny, to help her through it but the harder she had tried the more Jenny had withdrawn. It almost felt like they were strangers when they passed each other in headquarters now. Apart from a nod of the head or a half smiled 'hello' they hardly interacted and it hurt. Where had their friendship gone? Was the price of being in charge the loss of her personal life, or was she doing it on purpose? Why was she reaching out to Tony and not her? Well one thing was for sure; if Tony died she would never forgive Jenny.

Gibbs' cell phone trilled and he swiftly pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen to see who was calling him. He frowned and flicked it open, putting it to his ear and giving his usual one word greeting.

"Yeah?" he asked his expression turning from mild confusion to concern.

"Is she asleep?" he asked, his tone quite soft, in contrast to the harsh look of worry that marred his features. He nodded and made a few 'uh-huh' noises and then broke out into a smile.

"Well I wouldn't want to be you when she wakes up, Duck." he chuckled, shaking his head to whatever the caller, now identified as Ducky, was saying to him. His expression turned pensive a moment later, and his tone became soft again.

"Keep an eye on her for me, and tell Abby that McGee is going to be bringing her Tony's car to look over in the garage. We'll need whatever she can give us." he said emphatically, knowing that at the moment it didn't look good for getting anything from the evidence.

"Yeah, we have the rest of it; Ziva will bring it down when we get there. I'll let you know how Tony is when we get to the hospital." he listened for a few more seconds and then snapped his phone shut, ending the call. He shoved his cell back into his trousers and then fixed his attention back on to the road.

The car suddenly stopped and Ziva realised they had arrived at the hospital. She shot out of the car and launched herself through the car park towards the doors, intent upon finding Tony and/or getting information on his condition as soon as possible. She was almost through the front doors when Gibbs grabbed her arm and pulled her back, stopping her in her tracks. She instantly reacted defensively, but his voice stopped her from actually hitting him.

"This situation is delicate, I'm doing the talking." he said lowly, stepping in front of her and walking up to the desk. Ziva growled under her breath and followed him, a little irate at being put in her place. What situation was delicate? What was he talking about? Surely Tony hadn't gone undercover as a doctor… Ziva stood just behind Gibbs as he addressed the woman behind the desk. "Condition of Tony DiNardo?" he asked and Ziva's eyes narrowed in confusion and suspicion. DiNardo? She subtly cleared her throat, letting Gibbs know that she expected to be told what was going on, and soon. The woman behind the desk opened her mouth to answer but another woman who was walking by looked at Gibbs and then moved to stand beside the receptionist.

"He's being treated in theatre, are you members of his family?" the woman who had just appeared, whose name tag identified her as Annie, asked curiously, looking him up and down, her eyes drifting to Ziva and then back to Gibbs. Ziva suppressed a smile at Annie's near fearful reaction to the stare Gibbs was giving her, and then looked around, noticing that they had attracted some attention. Obviously Tony had become familiar with some of the staff here.

"We're colleagues." he replied and Annie's eyebrows climbed up towards her hairline.

"_You_ are a college professor?" she asked doubtfully, taking in his level of fitness and marine cut, then flickering over to the steely gaze of Ziva.

"That's right." he answered curtly, clearly not in the mood to embellish the part, or act in anyway like a real professor.

"Damn, I bet all _your_ students pass." she mumbled, looking over his intimidating figure once again.

"Can you tell me anything about his condition?" he asked again and she immediately looked over the other woman's shoulder at the patient information for him.

"Only that he was stabilised in the ambulance, we won't know anything more until he gets out of theatre and then it'll be family first. Is there a next of kin that needs to be called?" she asked, frowning as she looked over Tony's fake medical records.

"I'll call his family when there is something to tell them." Gibbs said, his patience wearing a little thin. "What about the woman he was brought in with? How is she doing?" he asked and Annie's eyes narrowed.

"Doctor Benoit's condition is not as serious, that's all I'm telling you." she replied, her eyes hard. Gibbs nodded and leaned over the desk towards her. This time she didn't back away, she stood her ground and both Gibbs and Ziva realised that she cared for this Doctor Benoit.

"You know her?" Gibbs asked curiously, watching the mix of emotions on Annie's face as she fought the worry for her friend.

"She's a colleague and a dear friend. I left her only an hour ago for lunch and then I hear she's been hurt in an explosion!" she exclaimed angrily, leaning towards Gibbs over the desk, her nose a few inches from his, fury radiating from her. Neither one moved, both unwilling to back down, but Ziva knew that Gibbs had more patience. If this was going to be a staring contest, Gibbs would win, but Ziva couldn't wait for that.

"Could you give me a call when Tony gets out of theatre?" Ziva asked, stepping up to the desk and putting a piece of paper on top of it, her name and number hastily scribbled on it. Annie looked away from Gibbs and took a deep breath to calm herself. She picked up the paper and nodded.

"Of course-" she said, looking at the paper and reading the name out loud. "Ziva."

"Thank you." Ziva said, smiling while pulling her phone out. Gibbs turned around and walked out of the hospital, Ziva trailing behind. She pressed 5 on her speed dial and waited for McGee to pick up the other end.

"_McGee_." the young Agent said by way of greeting.

"McGee? It is Ziva. Tony is still in theatre, no updates on his condition. Are you back at NCIS yet?" she asked, hoping that he will answer positively. This case was gnawing a hole in her gut; it just didn't make sense to her.

"_I'm on my way. Traffic is a nightmare because of the taped off lanes._" McGee replied apologetically. "_He'll be alright Ziva. You know Tony; anything for a little sympathy._" he said, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Ziva half smiled, but she didn't really feel it. What he had just said was as bad as asking someone if they are ok while they try to fight off tears. It just brought home how close they had come to losing Tony, and they still didn't know if he would make it. Ziva didn't want to think about it though, not yet. Tony was just a colleague; there was no reason to get unduly upset over this accident. No reason to imagine his broken body lying on the sidewalk, peppered with shrapnel… no reason at all.

"We shall meet you there." she said with difficulty, burying her feelings as deep as they would go, and ending the call. McGee would understand; he wouldn't hold it against her. She sniffed and then ran to catch up with Gibbs, narrowly avoiding bumping into an elderly gentleman wearing a white hat and matching jacket. she said 'excuse me' and carried on, sparing him only a glance and hanging around for long enough to hear his 'pardon me, Madame'. She caught up to Gibbs, who was halfway back towards the car already, and then looked back at the man. He seemed somehow familiar; not his face, his voice. Had she heard it somewhere before?

"David!" Gibbs shouted, starting the engine and revving slightly to make her get in. she did so, but kept her eyes on the old man until he disappeared from view. The answer would come to her.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I only own Rosie and the gestating Jibblet. I forgot to mention last chapter that Annie is not mine, she belongs to Donald Bellisario et al.

A.N.: Thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, black widow mistress, Twilight Trekky, jstapny, alix33, MissJayne and HesMines for reviewing!

I know this is very different from 'Bury your dead' and my reasoning is this; why would the international arms dealer, with more connections and partners than the president, suddenly act scared for his life (about the bomb that he _knew_ Kort had planned) and then hand himself over to the one person that he _knew_ had been chasing him down for over a decade and hope for her protection?

My answer; the writers had made him too unattainable. He had an escape for everything and was far too powerful; they couldn't bring him down so they wrote this episode to finally get rid of him and hope they hadn't damaged Jenny's character too much. Oh well.

* * *

Timothy McGee looked out of the window of the truck, glancing idly at the wreck tied down on the back of it; the wreckage of Tony's car. He watched as charred pieces of metal and fabric wiggled around from the vibrations of being in motion, the loosest bits falling from their homes and clattering against the frame with a dull 'thunk'. Most of the glass had been ejected from the vehicle from the force of the explosion, but some bits had remained in the frame and melted from the heat of the fire that had engulfed the car for the long minutes it had taken for the fire crew to arrive on the scene. The discoloured dribbles of re-solidified glass occasionally caught the sunlight; reflecting it into McGee's eyes and making him squint and look away.

They were nearing the Navy yard now, another few minutes and he would be passing this sombre duty to Abby, though he knew he wouldn't leave her alone with it unless she asked him to. His heart became slightly heavier at the thought of Abby's unsmiling face, staring at the wreckage as if Tony's body was inside it. Tony had comforted her after Kate's death, would he be the one to comfort her now? There was no news yet on Tony's condition, but he could easily pick up the phone only to hear Ziva tell him Tony was gone. How would he tell Abby that? He shook himself angrily; _Tony is not dead yet! Think of something else_.

He thought about the damaged timing device he had found next to the car, near the back. The piece of badly burnt timer was cheap so it would have only had a short countdown, and that suggested to him that someone had attached it to his vehicle some time during last night or this morning, which sent chills down Tim's spine. That suggested that the person who attached it to Tony's car must know where he lived, or where his girlfriend lived if Tony had been staying over with her, and that was very bad.

He flashed back to the moment in MTAC when himself, Gibbs and Director Shepard had watched Tony exit his car. The passenger, Tony's girlfriend, had done so too and then the couple had set off at a slow walk towards a burger stand. Three seconds they had spent walking away from the car. _Three_ _seconds_. It had been long enough for them to get a relatively safe distance away, any closer and they could have been set alight or skewered by the burning fragments, but they had still gotten injured. Tony had nearly been killed.

McGee had been a member of Gibbs' team for nearly four years now but he had known Tony a little longer than that. He smiled as he recalled his first meeting with him at Norfolk when they had found a man in a barrel. Tony had told him that he would need to guard the scene all night and he had agreed to do it, unaware that Tony was making a fool of him. Kate hadn't told him either of course, those two had been as thick as thieves, despite the fact they would usually spend their time arguing. It had been a brother/sister, love/hate relationship between the two of them, which had expanded to include him when he had joined the team.

After losing Kate, he and Tony had become that bit closer, both shaken by how suddenly their family had been torn apart. Tim had no wish to experience that loss again, he wasn't sure he could deal with losing Tony. He had become more than a friend to him, he was like a brother, the only brother he would ever have and he found that he simply couldn't imagine what his life would be like without him. What would he do at work? Would he be able to function without hearing Tony calling him those stupid Mc-nicknames or throwing balls of paper at his head? He had already had to change what cereal he ate because the memory of Kate remarking upon it had stuck with him.

He was roused from his thoughts by the truck pulling into the evidence garage, a red jumpsuit clad Abby already waiting for him. He watched her as she stayed at the back of the room, letting the truck fully enter the garage and park up so it could unload the wreckage into the middle of the room. Tim jumped out of the truck as soon as he was able and moved straight over to Abby. Once at her side he put a hand on her arm gently, hoping to make her look at him, but her glistening eyes were following every movement that Tony's wreck made.

"He'll be fine Abs." McGee said, his voice soft and soothing, reassuring her with the false certainty he injected into it, not really feeling as confident as he sounded. She tore her eyes away from the mangled mess that had been Tony's pride and joy, and looked at him finally, nodding. She threw her arms around him suddenly and he drew her to him, tightly holding on to her for a long moment.

"Of course he will. Gibbs hasn't given him permission yet." she mumbled, both of them chuckling at the reference to Tony's bout with the pneumonic plague, their cheeriness trailing off as they recalled that Kate had been with them then, and then a short time later she had been killed. Abby slowly withdrew from McGee's embrace, reluctant to face the horrible reality that someone had attempted to kill a member of her extended family, but also unwilling to put off finding something that could help them to track this person down.

"Right. Well. I better get started Timmy, Gibbs will want results and soon." She said and then spun on her heel and marched over to the wreck, her stride faltering only slightly as she drew closer to it. Tim followed her, coming to a stop by her side again.

"If you need another pair of hands…" he said softly and Abby closed her eyes and nodded. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes again and then clapped her hands together, spinning around to face him a few seconds later, her eyes bright with the tears she was refusing to shed.

"Where do you want to start?"

* * *

Ducky watched for a while as Jennifer slept peacefully, the frown lines that she had been developing over the last year of her Directorship smoothed out, leaving her looking as young as the first time he had seen her. He smiled gently, thinking of the flirtatious, temperamental and confrontational young woman she had been back then, the only probie ever to stand up to Jethro and win an argument. It had been obvious even then that they would get together, although Jethro's second wife Diane had been an issue, and more than likely the only thing keeping them apart. He was happy for Jennifer, knowing now that she was pregnant, but he was worried for too.

Her first child had met with a tragic and untimely end, and that fact would definitely be lurking in her mind somewhere and he was afraid of what it could lead to. Her recent battle with alcoholism (which he wasn't convinced she had won yet), a bout of depression and an ongoing vendetta were the other worrying factors that put this pregnancy at grave risk. Her emotions had been running high before becoming pregnant, what effect would the extra imbalance of hormones have on her? Would her mood swings simply change more often, or would they put extra stress on her body?

Jennifer sighed and rolled over on the couch, making Ducky shoot forwards to stop her from falling off of it. He pushed her back on and then helped her to roll the other way. Once she was facing the backrest of the couch and had settled back down, Ducky breathed a soft sigh of relief. Well at least he had been able to avert one small disaster, though he knew that the biggest problems were out of his control and well out of his ability to help with.

A feeling of helplessness suddenly gripped him and he checked his phone, hoping for news. Every other member of the team, besides himself and Jennifer, were investigating the destruction of Anthony's vehicle and he wanted to help, but there was nothing for him to do. There had, thankfully, been no corpse in the car so he had no way of aiding in the search for the culprit. Jethro had known this, that was why he had asked him to keep an eye on Jennifer, but she was asleep and comfortable now, there was nothing to do but sit beside her and wait for her to awaken, and that wouldn't be for a few hours at least.

With a heavy sigh Ducky settled back and contented himself with the knowledge that there was nothing for him to do because everything was already being done. Perhaps once Anthony's medical condition was released he could confer with the hospital about his medical records, which he was sure Jennifer would have had falsified. Until then however, he would just have to wait.

* * *

Rene Benoit left the front desk of the hospital, not knowing much more about Jeanne's condition than when he had gone in. He was worried about her and very annoyed with himself. He had known that something like this could happen, but he had trusted Kort not to mess it up and actually injure her. He had put on a good front, saying that it didn't really matter as long as it went their way, but he was very protective of his children, Jeanne especially. She was such a generous, kind hearted soul, she didn't deserve any of this, but much had to be risked to bring his enemies to light.

He had known that Jasper Shepard's daughter would never stop hunting him; he had effectively sealed that fate when he had ordered her own daughter to be abducted. He closed his eyes briefly, cursing his underlings once again for killing the toddler. They had dealt with the threat to him as they had seen fit, and usually he turned a blind eye, but the name Shepard had been too familiar to ignore. He had taken an interest in her, offered her the same deal he had offered her father, but she had refused and paid the price. The child had never been the target, the mother _had_. There was no reason to wonder why she had sent this Anthony DiNozzo after Jeanne, he had destroyed the life of her daughter, now she was repaying him in kind, but would she go so far as to kill her?

He walked out of the front entrance, careful to watch where he was going this time, and wandered away from the building while staying within walking distance of his car, his two bodyguards maintaining a discreet distance. He walked for a little while longer, picking the best spot and then he leaned back against a low wall, settling against it and looking up at the hospital as if he was admiring the architecture.

He stayed there for a few minutes, waiting. He knew that Kort was going to come and see him, and for once he wished he had kept the young handler by his side, at least for today, but hindsight was 20/20 and effectively useless to him. Finally another man settled back against the wall, casually chewing a sandwich so it looked like his attention never strayed to the man next to him. Benoit was not in the mood for pleasantries today though, so he cut right to the chase.

"You said you only wished to frighten her." he hissed, his voice low but the concern for Jeanne and anger at himself for letting Kort use her leached into his tone. He only suspected that this bomb was what Kort had been planning, hoped even, but he didn't know for sure. If Kort was surprised at the outburst he didn't show it, he merely took another mouthful of sandwich and chewed thoughtfully.

"I did." he replied finally, and Rene couldn't help it when his head snapped around to look at Kort's face, noting that he was perfectly serious. "DiNozzo did a lot of driving around before he picked her up, almost like he was _trying_ to waste time." he reported finally, shaking his head, annoyed that his plan had nearly backfired.

"Do you think he _knew_?" Benoit asked, surprised that he hadn't thought of it. Jennifer Shepard was many things, but a murderer had never been one of them, at least not before her child's death. He had done an extensive background check on her when she had begun relentlessly tracking him down.

"If he did he cut it very close, but then that may have been to avert suspicion. He did answer a call just before he began to waste time. Perhaps Shepard is being more devious and vindictive than we originally thought. If that _is_ the case, we may need to go right for the jugular and hope she gets the message, or is removed from consideration." Kort reasoned and Benoit found himself nodding. He disliked barbarism, but if it was the only thing that would keep Jeanne safe, then perhaps it was time to fight fire with fire.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Some of the dialog pertaining to the bombing of Tony's car comes from the episode 'Bury your dead'.

A.N.: thank you to xxhiphuggersxx, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, alix33, jstapny, black widow mistress and MissJayne for reviewing!

* * *

Jethro parked his car in the NCIS car park and then he and Ziva jumped out, moving swiftly to the car boot. Once their arms were laden with evidence bags from the scene of Tony's cars' death, Gibbs locked the car and began striding quickly towards the front door of the NCIS building, Ziva hurrying along behind. She didn't want to miss the elevator and have to take the stairs, especially with all of these bags weighing her down.

The security guard on duty nodded to them and let them pass right away, skipping the small queue of witnesses, probie Agents and delivery guys. Gibbs entered the lift and pressed the button for the top floor, trying to ignore the questioning glance from Ziva. She had expected him to go down to the evidence garage and find out about the bomb, but he had to go up and see Jenny first.

Ducky would more than likely be going stir crazy with nothing to do and it would be best for both of them if he was there to mediate any and all conversations between them for the time being. Jenny would not take kindly to being drugged, but she would get over it if he could convince her it was for the best. Perhaps he could get some more sedative from Ducky so she could have a decent night's sleep tonight too. The elevator doors opened on the Directors floor so Gibbs stepped out; turning to look at Ziva and pass her the bags he was carrying as he did so.

"Go help McGee and Abby process the evidence." he said, turning away before she could respond and stalking towards the Director's office. Cynthia glanced up as he approached, rolled her eyes and then returned her attention to her work. She didn't bother trying to stop him anymore; in fact she was glad that things between him and Jenny had worked out so well. A visit from Gibbs usually meant a happy Jenny, and from what Doctor Mallard had told her after she had called him about Jenny throwing up (some sort of stomach bug had apparently made her ill) she needed cheering up.

Gibbs opened the door to her office and stepped into the room, closing the door firmly and quietly behind him. Ducky stood up from the couch and approached him, unwilling to risk waking Jenny by speaking next to her. As soon as he reached him the two looked over at Jenny and then spoke to one another in low whispers.

"Has there been any more news about Anthony's condition?" Ducky asked hesitantly, as if he were expecting the worst. Gibbs shook his head and checked the door, making sure it was properly closed.

"No. He's still being worked on, and so is his girlfriend." Gibbs replied, uncertainty lacing his words. All anyone wanted at that moment was news on DiNozzo, and that was the one thing he couldn't find out for himself. He would have to wait for the doctors to call, just like everyone else.

"Ah. How is the team holding up?" Ducky enquired, his tone suggesting that he expected to hear something negative. Jethro sighed softly; the death of a teammate was something he had hoped to never have to contemplate ever again, but the longer it took for word on Tony, the worse the outcome was expected to be.

"They're pretty shaken up." he replied at last, though he had only seen Ziva. She had internalised everything already so she had given him a very incomplete picture of how the others would be, but he could guess at Abby's reaction. She would need a hug and some reassurance, but she would be studiously denying that Tony could die, no matter how transparent it was that she was hurting inside. He frowned, he would have to go down and see her soon, he probably should have gone to her first, but his need to see Jenny and make sure she and their baby was safe had been the stronger need.

"Understandably." Ducky said nodding.

"I think they'll be fine once DiNozzo is back on his feet." Jethro announced as loud as he dared, as if saying it out loud somehow made it more likely to happen.

"Hmm… and how are _you_ holding up?" Ducky asked, having no doubt that everyone else would be fine once Tony was back with them. Jethro however would not be, neither would Jennifer. They knew more about this bombing than they were saying, and that would lead to guilt and lots of it.

"I'm fine Duck." Jethro said, denial dripping from every syllable, and he winced at how false his words sounded even to his own ears. Ducky nodded and rounded on him, placing a hand on his friends' arm.

"Guilt is a dangerous emotion Jethro. There was nothing you could have done." he stressed, hoping to get through to him, but Jethro just stared ahead, his eyes settling on Jenny's sleeping form. She looked so peaceful but he knew that once she awoke she would be feeling exactly as he was. This was their fault; the mission had gone on for too long, they had become complacent and believed that Tony was safe, but he wasn't.

"He was supposed to come straight here; we were ending the mission, but…" Jethro trailed off, thoughts of what could have made Tony disobey him, of what the young man could have been thinking passing through his mind. It didn't make sense. Tony was one of the most trustworthy Agents he had trained, his loyal St Bernard. There was no reason for his sudden rebellious streak.

"Feelings don't just end with the mission, Jethro. You _know_ that." Ducky reminded him gently, making sure that he didn't just assume Anthony had decided to disobey him for no good reason. Jethro had fallen in love during an undercover mission, he had fallen for Jennifer, and look at them now. Sometimes the feelings that are created during those types of missions are false, they are necessary to carry off the mission so the Agent assumes those emotions. However, sometimes a real bond forms, a real love, but it is almost always doomed to end badly.

"Yeah. I didn't realise he was in so deep, he never said-" Jethro began, but Ducky cut him off.

"Did you ask?" he asked kindly, keeping his tone gentle so that Jethro didn't think he was accusing him of negligence. Gibbs looked sharply at him but then let out a breath and his shoulders slumped. He shook his head.

"No. I didn't think I'd need to." Jethro said finally. Ducky nodded and removed his hand from Gibbs' shoulder.

"Perhaps that is why he didn't tell you. He didn't want you to be disappointed in him for not telling you when he first realised, but he couldn't give up the woman he loved either." Ducky reasoned and Gibbs found himself nodding. He could understand that, but how had he missed it? He, who professed to know his team, hadn't even realised his Senior Field Agent was in love with the woman he was dating.

"We've made a mess of this haven't we, Duck?" Jethro sighed, looking up at the roof and closing his eyes briefly. He scrubbed a hand over his face and then opened his eyes, looking to his oldest friend for support.

"Yes, you have Jethro, and now you and Jennifer need to put it _right_." Ducky said, this time not sugar coating what was going on. Even if, or rather when, Anthony survived the shrapnel, his happiness and self worth was still hinging upon how this case was resolved. Jethro and Jennifer had taken a calculated risk sending Anthony after this girl, but they had misjudged his need to be loved and accepted. His girlfriend had done that for him, no matter what.

Jethro nodded and finally moved away from the door, walking over to Jenny. He gently sat down next to her on the couch, jostling her slightly. She didn't react to the stimuli or to his hand when he stroked it down her cheek.

"How has she been?" he asked Ducky softly.

"The sickness was particularly violent, but she handled it well. It was Cynthia who panicked." Ducky revealed smiling slyly as he recalled the young receptionist's shaky voice. Jethro chuckled and lightly rested his hand on Jenny's stomach, his mind wandering to the tiny life inside of her. That tiny life was under threat, and not just from Benoit, but from Jenny herself.

Jenny had had a rough couple of months since Emily had left, but he had helped her through it as well as he could. The trouble had been that she'd occasionally slipped into bouts when she hadn't _wanted_ to be helped. It was ever present in his mind that she could easily slip into one of those moods again, and he would be stuck watching her drown herself and the baby in alcohol. Jethro shook his head, savagely dislodging those thoughts. Jenny had been very careful since she had found out; she would never intentionally harm this baby, in fact she was going out of her way to make sure she did everything right.

Jethro reluctantly withdrew his hand from her still flat stomach and stood, not wanting to be caught with his hand there if she woke up. She was going to great lengths to hide this pregnancy; she might not like him knowing yet. Well he would give her another few days and then he would ask her what the problem was. He was this baby's father, why was she keeping even the knowledge of it from him? That was all he'd have of his child until her body changed to accommodate it as it grew, until he could see that it was real, feel it kick. Seven or eight months were a long time away. He needed something. _For Christ's sake Jen, throw me a bone!_

"I've got to go see what the team has, if anything." he said, turning away from his enigmatic lover and heading for the door. Ducky nodded knowingly.

"I'm sure they'll have something by now, Jethro." he said, and Gibbs just shrugged.

"Guess I'll find out." he said, walking out the door and towards the elevator. He smiled at Cynthia, so that she wouldn't worry about Jenny, and then checked his phone. Nothing yet. He quickly stepped into the elevator and rode it down to Abby's lab, hoping to catch them there. They could still be in the evidence garage but in all probability they were done with the wreck. The lift stopped at Abby's floor and he stepped out, walking in to the strangely quiet room and looking at the sombre faces inside.

"Gibbs!" Abby shouted, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. Instead of letting go of him immediately, however, she hung on. He patted her back, rubbing in large circles and looked pointedly at McGee. The young man nodded and took up the reigns of reporting their findings.

"We've analysed what we could find of the bomb in Tony's car and found some surprising results." McGee said, bringing up a picture of what was left of the bomb components on the computer screen.

"Like?" Gibbs asked, gently disengaging from the crushing hug that Abby had so obviously needed. She wiped at her eyes and then moved to stand next to McGee.

"The maker of this bomb isn't a novice." McGee said, handing the floor to Abby.

"Every bomb maker has a signature. The components, the way it's assembled. Sometimes right down to the colour tape they use to bind it all together. In this case, the components are common to at least nine other bombs that have gone off in the last four years. I made the match on Interpol. The bombs have gone off all over the world. Algeria, Indonesia, the Middle East, Chechnya-" she said, building up steam and breaking into her usual rambling explanation about halfway through. Gibbs cut her off during the list of countries, a little impatient to find out who had wanted to kill Tony, despite his gut telling him it was from Benoit's corner.

"Anything linking the victims?" he asked, and McGee nodded.

"They were all arms dealers." Tim answered.

"The only problem is Tony's not an arms dealer." Abby said a little apologetically.

"No, but his girlfriend's father is, maybe they decided that that was close enough." Ziva offered.

"Or this other person decided to use Jenny's method of attacking the daughter to draw out the father." Gibbs said idly, wondering if it could really be that simple. Was there someone out there attacking arms dealers, someone who had gotten wind of Jeanne? He almost scoffed. Jeanne and Tony were attacked the moment Jenny was warned away, that was no coincidence. No, this was not a separate attack. His thoughts were disturbed by Ziva's phone ringing and everyone held their breath as she answered it.

"David… yes of course… is he…? Thank you." she ended the call and took a deep breath before meeting the eyes of each member of the team. "That was Annie from the hospital. Tony is out of theatre, but still unconscious from the drugs." she swiped at a tear in the corner of her eye and smiled. "He is going to be alright."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I only own the original characters.

A.N.: Quite a short chapter this time, but I wanted to get this out before we get into the heavy stuff. Thank you to xxhiphuggersxx, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, MissJayne, black widow mistress, alix33, jstapny, JiBbS-tIvA4eVs, HesMines and Liina01 for reviewing!

* * *

Tony didn't feel too good. _Waking up was a bad idea_, he thought wryly flexing his hands gently. He frowned as his fingers encountered a thin tube of some sort attached to his hand, and the shock from the pain that simple action caused made him quickly relax his expression. _It seems that my face hurts too_, he thought, _in fact my whole head hurts_. Had someone punched him? He couldn't recall getting into a fight but it was the only explanation that made sense to him.

He shifted, uncomfortable with the position he was in, hissing when several points on his body exploded in agony, making him still his movements in an attempt to make the pain go away. Well whoever it was that he had fought with had done quite a number on him. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm his body, becoming more aware of his surroundings as he did so. His nose twitched as he took a deep breath, the unmistakable smell of a sterile environment and the sounds he could hear told him where he was; in a hospital. _Damn but that isn't good,_ he thought wildly, _what if they say something to Jeanne? _

_Jeanne!_ Suddenly he remembered the last few moments before blacking out. He had been taking Jeanne to dinner at that little burger stand, when a loud noise from behind them had thrown them to the floor. He saw it in his mind's eye, saw the bits of shrapnel fly past him, some of them striking his body and staying there. It was almost painful to think of it, but he knew instinctively that it had been a car bomb, and he also knew that the pieces of metal had been parts of his baby, getting torn apart and hurled around. Had he been compromised? Is that what Gibbs and Jenny had wanted to see him about?

He tried to open his eyes but it was difficult. They were sticky with sleep and unusually heavy, but after a gargantuan effort he managed to push his lids up and look around. He was in a hospital alright, the walls were white, the roof was white and the door had glass in it, just in case you had any illusions about getting some privacy. He glanced at the equipment next to him, a heart monitor and a drip and… was that a bag of blood? No wonder he felt so weak. If they were giving him blood he must have lost a lot at the scene…

He shuddered, thinking of all of his blood leaking away on that pavement and mixing in with Jeanne's, and his heart rate jumped becoming a little faster. He glared at the monitor, those lines reminded him of the red lights that appeared whenever Kit from Knight Rider spoke; it was almost like the machine was laughing at him. He shook his head and dispelled that train of thought. He needed his phone, he needed to call Gibbs and tell him what had happened. He needed to find a nurse and ask about Jeanne. He really just needed to _do_ something.

He tried to sit up, but the various wounds on his body flared and an exclamation of pain escaped him before he could suppress it. He flopped back on the bed uselessly, panting; hoping that whatever pain medication he was on would kick in and fast. It didn't, but luckily a nurse walked through the door soon after his disastrous attempt at sitting up and gave him another dose of morphine. Tony was exhausted from pain but he managed to squeeze out a question to her.

"Jeanne. Is Jeanne ok?" he asked, his voice quivering with pain. The nurse replied, but it sounded like it was coming from a long way off. He asked again, starting to panic when his own voice came out sounding fuzzy. Fatigue settled over him like a blanket, dulling his senses and lulling him to sleep but he stubbornly tried again to ask about Jeanne. This time the nurse leaned over him, speaking softly in his ear and her voice finally got through to him. He realised who his nurse was in that moment, it was Annie.

"She's ok, Tony. You were behind her so you took most of the shrapnel. She's in a room just across the ward. Her father is with her. I'll call your friends." She promised slowly and he made a noise that she took for an affirmative. Tony's eyes closed once more and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Rene Benoit strode down the corridors of the hospital, nodding a greeting to the nurses that recognised him, already knowing the way to his destination. He had been in and around this hospital many times during his daughters' time working here, and it was his little girl he was here to see. He had gotten a call from the reception nurse telling him Jeanne was finally out of theatre and was recovering in one of the rooms on this floor. He had come straight away, though he hadn't exactly had far to travel.

His meeting with Kort outside this building had been quite fruitful. He smiled; the CIA Agent always had a plan, no matter how sudden his change of circumstances was, which was why Rene had managed to stay out of the reach of his enemies for so long. Kort seemed to thrive on the challenge too, which made him an even greater asset, though a small part of Benoit wondered what would happen if the challenge disappeared. What would the man do if Benoit's life became boring day-in day-out work? Request reassignment perhaps?

Benoit casually glanced through the glass in the doors of the recovery rooms he passed, looking for both Jeanne and her 'boyfriend'. Jeanne hadn't had much luck with her love life so far, and the only real gem in her life had been a cop that had gotten drunk and slept with her best friend, if you could call her that. Rene had happily advised his daughter to sever all connections with both that man and her so-called friend. He had not been there for his family when Jeanne was young, and that neglect had caused the irreparable rift between him and her mother, but he was getting old now and the importance of family had finally sunk in. The importance of protecting it had made an even bigger impression.

This new boyfriend of Jeanne's had seemed innocent enough; he was a player who was reaching the point where meaningless flings left him empty and he was curious about settling down. A strange notion to most young people to be sure, but everyone craves lasting companionship and Jeanne had been over the moon that 'Tony DiNardo' had wanted that with her. Of course Jeanne didn't know the truth, but Rene did. Benoit angrily ground his teeth together. He had decided to do a little digging into DiNardo's past, knowing that his children would be a target for anyone with a grudge against him, and he hadn't been surprised to find out that that was the case here.

'Tony DiNardo' was actually 'Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Junior', the latest pawn in Jennifer Shepard's decade long campaign to bring him down. He sighed; her relentless pursuit of him was draining, of both his energy and his resources. He had had to call in, and promise, a lot of favours over the years to throw her off his trail or suspend her investigations, but she **always** found another opportunity to chase after him. He had never been foolish enough to underestimate her once she had begun this vendetta; he was careful to a fault in his deals and never showed himself in person to any drop off points or meetings without heavy protection, knowing she could very well be waiting for him.

Of all the people he expected to get so close to catching him, he had never expected it to be Jasper Shepard's little girl. He had been friends with her father; he made a point of being friends with those in the highest positions. Jasper Shepard had been incredibly proud of, and totally devoted to, his only child. He had told Rene many stories of his Jenny and her grades, how very intelligent she was and how naturally she handled a firearm. Being an Army man he had wanted his daughter to follow him into service, but Jenny had been more interested in glamour and politics. She hadn't been a threat to Benoit at all, so ending Jasper's life when he grew a conscience hadn't struck him as a mistake, and in many ways it hadn't been.

He had made the real mistake when he had taken Jenny's _daughter's_ life.

Rene felt the congenial smile slip off his lips for a moment and hastily put another in its place, though no one would think anything of his slip. He was here to see his recently injured daughter after all, but he needed the façade, he couldn't let the intensity of his anger show through. He knew what Jenny was doing now. Benoit had three children but only one was a daughter, only one wasn't involved in anything even slightly dubious: Jeanne. She was his youngest and the one he tried to protect the most.

His sons could take better care of themselves but they were also much easier to get to, the law even had a legitimate reason to go after them. He knew for a _fact_ that Jenny knew where they were, but she had targeted Jeanne. It shook him to the core, which was exactly what she wanted.

Rene finally came to a stop outside Jeanne's room and looked in through the door. His baby girl was lying prone on the hospital bed, cuts and bruises marring her pale skin. There were a multitude of wires and tubes attached to her and Benoit's heavy heart constricted. This was **his** fault. If he hadn't made the mistake of giving Jenny the same choice as her father, if he had only dug a little deeper and seen that she wasn't so easily swayed by money… but he hadn't. She had refused to play his game and he had told his men to carry out the threat. She would hunt him down and kill him for taking her daughter's life, no matter what she lost along the way. Now though, he would make sure she lost it all.

Benoit turned the handle and entered the silence of Jeanne's room. He had promised to meet her boyfriend today, and later he would keep that promise.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you to Liina01, HuddyJibbsAddict, Meilea2010, black widow mistress, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, MissJayne and JiBbS-tIvA4eVs for reviewing!

Ziva placed her phone in her pocket, her relief over Tony's survival overwhelming. Around her she heard the happy sighs and laughs of Abby, McGee and Gibbs, who though they wouldn't admit it, had feared the worst. She had too. For the longest moment she had thought that the nurse had been calling to tell her Tony had died, she had braced for it in fact, but it seemed his good luck had held for now.

She started walking towards the door, eager to get to her partners bedside, to make sure he was alright. Hospitals don't have the best security and she thought that whoever had tried to kill him may try again, despite the evidence pointing to his girlfriend being the target. Ziva decided it would be best if she was there to keep him safe. She was almost at the door of Abby's lab when Gibbs called her back.

"Ziva, where are you going?" he asked sternly, probably already knowing where she was heading.

"To the hospital to see Tony." she replied evenly, turning back to see Gibbs shake his head.

"No, you stay here with Abby. McGee will go visit DiNozzo." Gibbs said, pointing to McGee and jerking his thumb towards the door. Tim nodded and turned to the door, but stopped when Ziva stepped into his way and crossed her arms.

"He is MY partner Gibbs!" she growled angrily. "Not McGee's. It is my right to be there." she stated, staring him down. McGee glanced between them and moved closer to Abby, who rolled her eyes at Gibbs' behaviour.

"He is also still undercover and a woman turning up at his bedside would undoubtedly get back to his girlfriend, in the worst possible way." He said evenly, trying to stay calm and not shout at Ziva for her instinct to protect her partner. It was a good instinct, just coming at a bad time, especially since she had recently begun manifesting almost possessive tendencies towards Tony when she didn't know where he was.

Gibbs tried not to think about what would happen if a nurse witnessed Ziva's behaviour and told Jeanne. She might decide to dump Tony now over some imagined infidelity. The frog would then be in the perfect position to get rid of him without harming his daughter either physically or emotionally. It was a gamble, but Gibbs believed that as long as Jeanne and Tony were in a relationship her father wouldn't overtly attack him.

"You cannot seriously believe they will stay together, Gibbs. The relationship is false; I do not care what she will think!" Ziva ground out furiously, fighting the impulse to stamp her foot.

"Well, Tony might." he retorted, his raised voice making Ziva narrow her eyes. "McGee could pass as a professor, but you and I couldn't. The receptionist's reaction told us that." he said reasonably, but Ziva shook her head obstinately.

"I do not need to be nice to be able to teach." she said, raising her chin defiantly. Gibbs sighed.

"What _would_ you teach?" he asked, hoping she hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Languages. As you know I can speak several." she responded, a small smirk on her lips. Gibbs could easily have let her go, but he didn't want her to compromise Tony, even if it would be unintentional on her part.

"No Ziva. Stay here and work on the case. If there's trouble you can go to the hospital to back up McGee." he said his decision final.

"There is nothing more to find from the evidence we have. Anything else there could possibly be would be best found by McGee's hacking skills. He is needed here more than me." Ziva exclaimed, wondering why Gibbs was fighting this so much. She was hardly going to run to Tony's waiting arms while his girlfriend looked on.

"What about securing Jenny's place?" Gibbs asked, trying to change the subject and put her back on another task. At that moment Abby gasped and started jumping up and down on the spot with her hand in the air, her relief over Tony's survival giving her an adrenaline rush.

"Oh! Me-me-me-me-me!" Abby said a huge smile on her face. Gibbs suppressed a smile with great difficulty and gestured for her to talk, exaggerating an eye roll at her behaviour.

"Yes Abs?" he said, and she preened a little as she pranced past McGee, who was still unsure if he should be gone already or not, and stood beside Ziva who shared credit for the revelation she was about to impart.

"Well we were thinking about how to have a lock that can't be picked and Ziva said that there was just no such thing."

"As long as there is a locking mechanism it can be manipulated." Ziva offered by way of explanation, which of course Gibbs already knew. Abby picked the conversation back up.

"So I thought about those cars that can only be started by a particular key." Abby paused, grinning widely. Gibbs gave no indication of understanding so she could explain in greater detail as usual. "The car key has a microchip in it, and the car reads the chip when the key is inserted. If it's the right chip, the car starts, if not or there is no chip, nothing happens." she said excitedly. Gibbs nodded, showing that he understood.

"So?" He asked, knowing that she wanted to tell him everything. Guessing what she meant would just take the wind out of her sails, especially if he guessed right.

"We could use the same thing on the locks for the Director's doors and windows! If I can get hold of some chips and readers I could probably make them myself, which would reduce, nay eradicate, the risk of the keys falling into the wrong hands. It would be expensive to do the whole house though, and unless I could get all of the chips to give the same code you'd need a key ring full of unique keys to open all of the doors and windows…" she said, going off on a tangent when she realised the enormity of the task.

"I don't think money will be a problem Abs." Gibbs said, thinking of Jenny's fortune. She would pay whatever it took to keep the baby safe. "Would you be able to shore up your houses too?" he asked, the thought of them being targeted as Tony had been entering his thoughts.

"Err, sure. Why? Are we in danger?" Abby asked confused, slightly afraid to hear the answer.

"No, Abs. it just seems like a good idea and I want all of you to be as safe as possible." Gibbs assured her, but Ziva's eyes narrowed to dagger points as some of the pieces fell into place.

"You knew Tony was in danger." she accused, her tone sharp with barely suppressed rage. "You knew, and now he is in hospital. Did you not tell him?" she asked incredulously. The smiles on Abby and McGee's faces dropped as the implications of Ziva's words hit them.

"He was supposed to come straight here today, he didn't." Gibbs answered softly. This fact had been eating him up ever since Tony's car had exploded. He couldn't blame Tony for taking his time, he hadn't been aware of the danger he had been in. Gibbs sighed internally; if only he had told Tony something different on the phone, rather than that he would have to give up Jeanne.

"Would this have something to do with the mission he has been on for Jenny?" Ziva asked, seeing her chance for answers.

"Yes." Gibbs replied simply.

"What exactly was this mission? Do not tell me it is classified or top secret or any other excuse! Are we not a team, Gibbs? We cannot function as one if we keep such secrets from each other, especially dangerous secrets." Ziva retorted angrily. It hurt that neither Tony nor Gibbs had thought to trust her with this information, and the fact they had been doing it for Jenny, her supposed friend, hurt even more.

"He was getting close to the daughter of an arms dealer to bring out her father." Gibbs said, but Ziva waved him on.

"We know this already." she growled. She stalked closer to Gibbs and dropped the tone and volume of her voice into a harsh whisper. "Do _not_ tell me Tony was nearly killed because of this vendetta Jenny has against arms dealers."

"One Arms dealer in particular. La Grenouille." Gibbs responded, his eyes flashing in hate for a man he had never met, but heard so much about. Ziva frowned.

"La Grenouille? The man that Troy Webster had tried to turn over to us?" she asked, her mind going back to when Jenny had been going stir crazy over linking the arms dealer with just about anything as long as it got the job done; the job being bringing the dealer to justice and jail. Why was she still after him? Was it because he had evaded her last time? Because he had made a fool out of her? Sending Tony undercover was a very extreme method of capturing a minor criminal.

"La Grenouille." Jenny's voice said, floating to them from the doorway of Abby's lab. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised and concerned to see she looked ill. She carried on talking while Ziva approached her. "Is the codename of an arms dealer that I know-" at this she looked down and wiped her damp eyes, before raising her head and looking Ziva square in the eye. "That I know as Rene Benoit." the moment the name left her lips Ziva's eyes widened and she took a step back from the force of the shock she felt.

"Rene Benoit." Ziva repeated softly, staring hard at Jenny. Jenny frowned at Ziva's reaction and the Israeli almost laughed. Did Jenny really think that she was the only one to try and find Rosie's killer? She had pulled quite a few strings in Mossad to find out his name and have all of his known business partners in Israel seized. There had been nothing else she could do though; her father's right hand man had warned her off the French man's trail, saying that he was protected by someone high up in one of the US' top Federal Agencies.

She had taken the defeat hard, but she had tried to put it behind her. Jenny obviously hadn't though, she must have chased him since her daughter's murder, but never once had she come to Ziva, never once had she confided this knowledge to her. Jenny had obviously known for a while what Benoit's weak spots were and not told her, not even offered an olive branch earlier by telling her about the mission she had planned. She had turned to Tony instead.

Anger flooded Ziva again and she opened her mouth to shout, to scream at Jenny for keeping this to herself, but as she did she recalled something she had heard from the hospital. _"Doctor Benoit's condition is not as serious." _the nurse Annie had said. The name had felt familiar but she hadn't connected the dots at the time. Thinking about the hospital forced her to recall walking into that older man.

His voice had struck a chord in her mind at the time, but she had never seen him before, only heard him over that horrid phone call during their missions together in Cairo. "_Perhaps all you need is incentive, no? Kill the child."_ he had said. Both she and Jenny had stood rooted to the spot in horror, listening to the order. They had sprung into action soon after. Jenny had refused to wait for backup and raced off alone to the warehouse Rosie had been kept in. It had been armed like a fortress, but she had blazed her way in, fighting all the way up to her little girl's body.

Ziva closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that the memory evoked. She could see Jenny holding Rosie in her mind, begging her daughter to open her eyes, to stop playing because it wasn't funny. Then Ziva had seen the bomb, she had tried to make Jenny move, she had pleaded with her to let go of Rosie so they could escape the blast in time, but she hadn't released her. Ziva had been forced to drag her friend out of there and they nearly hadn't made it. Jenny hadn't cared, once the crying had ceased she had stared despondently at Rosie, not reacting to any outside stimuli. Ziva had been very afraid for her sanity, and it seemed now that she should never have stopped worrying.

"You sent Tony after that… man's daughter?" Ziva asked stiffly, shaking her head at Jenny's vindictiveness. "What has happened to you Jenny?" she asked, angrier that she had been using Tony than at her plan.

"Don't judge me; I've done what I had to, and he won't escape again. Not this time." Jenny stated grimly, her hand finding Gibbs', who had moved to stand beside her in silent support. Jenny tried to blink away her tears, but more just took their place. Gibbs whispered softly in her ear and she nodded reluctantly. Ziva felt alone. Gibbs and Tony had never known Rosie, but it was them that Jenny had trusted to help avenge her.

"Why did you never come to me? I loved her too." Ziva asked, the first of her tears spilling over her eyelashes. She couldn't do this anymore. Ziva threw up her hands and stormed out of the lab. She needed to get away from them. From everyone. She didn't care where she went. After a few moments she looked up and realised she was in autopsy. Ducky glanced up from his paper work and took in her appearance. He smiled gently, leaned over his desk and then flicked his kettle on.

"I think we are going to need some of this, my dear." he said kindly, pulling out a few bags of chamomile tea and gesturing for her to sit down beside him. The kettle boiled and Ducky poured some water into his teapot, depositing the bags in it to mix. Ziva took a deep shuddering breath and lowered herself into the seat next to him, waiting for the questions to start. None came. It was the silence that broke Ziva. One moment she was sitting ramrod straight in her chair, the next she was crying her heart out and explaining everything to Ducky between sobs.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, Last. one. 02, HuddyJibbsAddict, cuddycrazy, black widow mistress and MissJayne for reviewing!

* * *

Tony arose gradually to consciousness, the smell of 'hospital' enough to cause his memories to come flooding back to him. The consequences of the actions he had taken because he was saddened, or rather downright distressed, over the thought of losing Jeanne taunted him. He sighed internally, kicking himself for his pigheadedness. He shouldn't have ignored Gibbs; he should have just gone to face the music back at headquarters.

He could have convinced Jenny he needed to continue his cover; he'd done it before during the weeks after Gibbs came back from Mexico. Convincing Gibbs would have been harder, but with Jenny on his side his boss wouldn't have been able to say no.

He was aching all over, and was burning where the shrapnel had entered his body, which meant the morphine had worn off. Again. He grunted unhappily and opened his eyes, frowning when a figure in the corner caught his eye. The person, a middle-aged man by the looks of his trouser clad legs, was half obscured by a large newspaper. All Tony could see was a white hat over the top of the paper, and his very expensive suit appeared to be colour coordinated to match.

Tony's body was so relaxed from the sedatives in his system that he couldn't form words yet, in fact looking around seemed to be all he could do, so he simply stared at the person, waiting for them to introduce themselves. For a long few minutes nothing happened, and then the man began to slowly fold up his newspaper, his face revealed in that instant, though his eyes were on the paper.

Tony figured he was putting on a show, trying to gauge his reaction, and he was proved right when the man's sharp eyes sought out his own. The man smiled genially and stood, picking up the chair he had been sitting on and carefully, slowly, walked over to Tony's bedside.

"Hello Mr DiNardo." he said, his thick French accent apparent, and Tony nodded, attempting a few words.

"Erm… hi." he mumbled, his usual introduction dying in his throat from the shock of speaking to the man he had been sent to draw out. A thrill of fear passed down Tony's spine as he watched the man before him, the Arms dealer La Grenouille, place his chair directly next to him and sit back down. Tony suddenly wished he wasn't injured so he could make some excuse and leave, quickly. La Grenouille continued to smile and then spoke again.

"I suppose you do not know who I am, hmm? I shall tell you. I am Jeanne's father, Rene." he spoke softly, but his voice was full of quiet authority and fatherly affection. Tony swallowed nervously.

"I'm… Tony DiNardo, I'm a professor-" he said with effort, and La Grenouille chuckled, cutting him off.

"I know who you are, Mr DiNardo. My daughter tells me everything." the older man revealed, his expression guarded, and Tony realised he was in serious trouble. Where was back up? Was Jenny going to leave him to face this guy alone?

"Her mother said the same thing." Tony said through clenched teeth, the charm he had attempted to inject into his tone failing to be heard through his stiff manner. La Grenouille's smile deepened, and Tony's stomach plummeted. He glanced at the door, hoping to see one of his team standing outside, but the man there was no one he recognised. Where was Ziva? She wouldn't leave him vulnerable like this, would she? She should know about the mission by now, she wouldn't hold it against him, would she?

"We like to know what is happening in her life. I for one do not see her as often as I should like." La Grenouille admitted wistfully, his smile disappearing. "I did not know what I would do if something untoward happened to her… but now it has and I know it will not be pleasant." he said, his tone hardening towards the end. His eyes cut to Tony's and in that moment DiNozzo knew he was compromised.

"I never tried to hurt Jeanne." Tony replied truthfully, and the old Arms dealer inclined his head, showing he believed him.

"You may not have, but your Director did." He leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands before him. "Your name... your real name… is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Junior." he intoned slowly, watching as what little colour that was left in Tony's face disappeared. This guy didn't just suspect, he **knew**, but how?"I have known about your identity for some time now. Time enough for my associate to find out about your _mission_." he spoke the last word with distaste, and guilt immediately swamped Tony over his lies to Jeanne.

"I don't know what you're talking-" he tried, but he was cut off by the arms dealer.

"Please, do not try my patience." he stated forcefully, drowning out Tony's weak voice. "I know Jennifer Shepard gave you this mission, and you should know that it has _no_ _bearing_ on bringing me in." he let that thought settle for a moment and then sat back in his chair, adopting a tone of polite disinterest. "She has been chasing me for years, you know. This mission is only the latest in a long list of failures. She has reached the point of desperation, and in that desperation, turned her attention to Jeanne, and _you_." he stared hard at Tony, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Do you know _why_ she wants to hurt my Jeanne? Has she even told you why she is using you?" he asked sympathetically, and Tony bristled angrily at the implication that Jenny didn't trust him. She had given this mission to him because she **did** trust him, and Gibbs had supported both her and her trust with his own.

"I don't need to know. You're an arms dealer; your weapons kill hundreds-" he began, pouring his anger into his carefully chosen words, but once again he was cut off by the older man.

"Undoubtedly, but that is not why she has had you _sleeping_ with my _daughter_." he growled, his own anger over the situation finally showing through in his tone and his posture turning more rigid.

"You killed her father." Tony stated, believing this to be the reason. It was the reason Jenny had reluctantly given him after all.

"Huh." Rene sat back and smiled like that cat that ate the canary. "Twelve years ago Jasper Shepard died from a bullet to the head, but Jenny did not start hunting me, yes _hunting_," he said upon seeing Tony's raised eyebrow of disbelief, "until about four years ago. I believe you will want to speak to her about that." he said archly, content that what he knew would be sufficient to drive a wedge between their trust. He stood up and smoothed his suit. "When you see her, tell her I wish to meet her. Tell her I am… afraid for my life and that of my daughter." he instructed Tony while he gathered his newspaper.

"What?" Tony spluttered in incredulity. There was no way he was going to tell Jenny that when it was so obviously not true. What was he trying to pull?

"Tell her I wish to have NCIS' protection and that I can trust no one else but her, and I will be in touch." he continued as if Tony never spoke, walking towards the door. He stopped abruptly when Tony spoke again.

"No." he said stubbornly. He wouldn't betray Jenny and Gibbs like that.

"Your partner is a talented woman, Agent DiNozzo." he said, making Tony's brows draw together in confusion. What was he talking about now? "Mossad training is world renowned, in fact. I know of several people, _dangerous_ people, who have lost someone close to them by her hand." Benoit turned from the door and levelled his gaze at Tony, walking slowly back to the bed he lay in, defenceless. "I could have my man outside smother you right now, but that would not be adequate vengeance for the likes of _you_." he hissed, showing how much he hated him for his treatment of Jeanne. "I know the names and addresses of all of your teammates _and_ their loved ones. If you do not tell her, I will pick one of your friends at random and have one of my men pay them a visit, do you understand?" he asked, his eyes glinting. There was nothing he wouldn't do to keep his daughter safe, and Tony was getting a glimpse of that protective instinct right now. It scared the hell out of him.

"What happens to Jenny if I do tell her?" he hedged; wanting to know what would happen if he did choose Jenny. She could look after herself after all, someone like Sarah McGee couldn't.

"She gets the chance she has been waiting these long years for." He replied, a grin on his lips, which quickly disappeared. "I will not lose my daughter to this woman, Agent DiNozzo. The choice of whom to condemn… is entirely yours." he whispered his parting words, knowing they would burn themselves into Tony's brain for years to come if someone was hurt because of the decision now resting on him. La Grenouille turned to the door and opened it, almost colliding with McGee who was trying to barrel past the guy outside.

"Oh! Excuse me, sir." Tim said abashed that he had almost knocked into the older gentleman.

"It is quite alright." La Grenouille said, looking back at Tony meaningfully. He left then, closing the door behind him and McGee grinned at Tony, walking to the bed and sitting in the recently vacated seat.

"Hey Tony, how are you feeling?" Tim asked, genuinely concerned for him.

"Fine, for a guy that was just used as a pin cushion!" Tony snarled back, his frustration over the choice before him destroying his patience and self control. Tim's eyes widened in shock at his outburst and Tony groaned, gesturing to the morphine drip. He _was_ in pain, not enough to warrant more morphine though, but he needed the excuse for his bad behaviour. Tim nodded in understanding and called a nurse in, whom after giving him a quick once over and some morphine, left the two of them alone again.

"You'll never believe the drama you just missed." Tim told him conspiratorially, and Tony felt his stomach drop. _Right back at you probie_, he thought miserably.


End file.
